Strange events

Strange things happen everywhere and a few happened here recently.

While riding my bike out on one of the bush 

trails I meet this old gent standing by his

1 cylinder motorcycle.

He flags me down and I thought he had a

problem but he just wanted to chat a bit.

We talked for a few minutes until another

motorcyclists came by that he seemed to

know.

So off I go down the path and the nearest

village was about 10 minutes away, tops.

There is the folklore of people appearing

mysteriously at any moment.

Well, it happened with this old gent. I pedaled

down this path and no one … I mean … no one

passed me.

As I arrived in the village and stopped to buy a

bag of water … I look across and there is the

old gent sitting on the bench of a kiosk.

What happened I don't know and there must

have been an alternative route that he took …

though I didn't hear a motorcycle's engine.

Of course there is the logical excuse but I am

not interested in knowing and I am dubbing

the gent 'the African magic man'.

Knowing would just ruin the fun of the

encounter.

Another strange but bitter sweet happening

occurred a few days ago. I work at a rural

health clinic and the clinic has a building

dedicated to maternity only.

Usually every morning one of the mid-wives

fills me in on the new Burkinabe who have entered

this world the previous night.

She said that that night there was only one baby

born but it was part of a sad scenario.

The baby was born exactly at 5 a.m. and at the

exact same 5 a.m. the new mother's mother

passed away.

The new mother's mother was sick but the point

is the timing.

Was there spirit exchange at the moment?

Who truly knows?  

Not earth shattering in it's strangeness but

still has a strange tone to it.

In my opinion even stranger because of the

African mystique.  

Definitely exciting

In the picture is the elephant that chased me

down the road. 

Today I decided on riding my bicycle to the 

second nearest big town. Which is actually

the bigger town and is about 65 kms from

my village. 

It is a straight shot with just enough

hills to ensure an honest workout. It took

a total of 6 hours with stopping for coffee

and water and a break here and there along

the route. 

Time was what I had today, so I took the

chance to relax and enjoy the journey. 

Approximately 60 percent of the journey is

through a national park. It is a beautiful area

with wildlife as proven in the picture. 

But this morning there was nothing until the

10 km marker before arriving at the town.

It started with one huge male elephant going

after a vehicle in the middle of the road. I 

could see some commotion in front of me 

from about a km away. A man on a motor scooter

said the elephant was acting up and that I

should be careful. 

Didn't have to tell me twice and I waited some

then crept up and he was gone.

But a km after that I saw about 20 to 30 

elephants and there were at least 10 very young

and baby elephants. 

From my time in Namibia I learned it could be 

dangerous as the big females are very protective.

I had my cellphone camera in hand and decided

to take the chance at a great photo-op. 

They were approximately 25 meters or 75ft away

when I stopped.

The big female immediately took a defensive/

charging stance.

I didn't get a chance to focus and the pictures

taken of the group aren't worth much.

After about 20 seconds the female starts to move

in my direction at a very brisk pace.

I know that an elephant's top speed can get up

to 40 km or a little less than 25 mph. 

Man, I start peddaling with everything I had and

the 100 meters that she chased me went by 

quick.

Heart was pumping, adrenaline flowing and the

daily quota of adventure fulfilled.

It was great but I won't get that close again with

a bicycle only. Tomorrow I will head back and

will definitely not push my luck.